Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerri Duncan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I began as a special education teacher in 1984. While working as a teacher, I obtained a master’s degree in administration and left the classroom for a position as a principal in a school located within a psychiatric hospital. While there, I obtain a specialist degree in administration. After four years, I was actively recruited by an agency looking for someone to spearhead a new program through a grant from the department of mental health in the state of MO where I am from. I was hired and trained to run an autism project. I oversaw 24 counties in SW Missouri and worked tirelessly hiring, training staff, assessing people on the autism spectrum and overseeing a large budget. I reported to a board of directors and learned a lot about business and autism. I left the position after 5 years as I was missing the school piece of my career and saw the need for a school that specialized in serving the autism population. I purchased a small school for children with learning differences and added the autism program. I learned about behavior analysis and became a board-certified behavior analyst BCBA. Our programs were built on the principles of behavior and were very successful. I set up a nonprofit arm to assist with scholarships and had annual fundraisers to help families. During that time, I obtained a doctorate in special education with an emphasis in autism. I grew the program and opened 3 additional locations over 13 years before selling the schools and moving to Florida to take care of my parents. In 2013, I was recruited to start a region in SW Florida for the Positive Behavior Support corp. that served families across the state who have children or adults with autism. I left and became the executive VP of another agency to start up clinics across the state for them. I realized the corporate world was not for me and left after 4 years to start my own company, Hart4Autism. I saw a need for assessment kiddos and diagnosing them. I work with neurologists, developmental pediatricians and others to diagnose autism so that children can obtain ABA services. In October 2024, I began to grow my company and added two additional examiners plus a bilingual examiner. We have grown and cover the entire state of FL and beyond. We have contracts with various ABA companies and conduct assessments for them. these are called Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluations (CDE’s). I’ve been trained to administer specific tests that are required by insurance providers in order to approve the therapies these kids need.
During all of this, I had a baby, got divorced, remarried years later and now have three adult daughters and 3 young grandchildren. I’ve done lots of things in-between the big picture of my career like assist in writing an Autism Rating Scale, created parent training programs, presented at various conferences to name a few.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course, there were barriers along the way but it never stopped me. I believed in myself and n what I was doing. I KNEW what needed to be done and did it. I think the biggest barrier was finding financial resources for families to be able to pay tuition for my school services and having other professionals in my field challenge my services as they felt ALL kids should be included in the public school or general education setting. I believe I prepared them for the general education setting as all of the students were transitioned back into the public school system when they were ready. the average length of stay was three years. This was always the goal.
The biggest challenge we face now is also financial. We do not accept insurance. We keep our costs as low as possible but it still prohibits some from accessing services. the good news, however, is once the report is completed, the insurance will accept them as a diagnosis. In over 5 years of being in business, I’ve never had a report kicked back or an authorization rejected. We see clients within a week or so of their initial inquiry and reports are back to them within 3-4 business days.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We offer excellent diagnostic assessments for families needing an autism diagnosis so that they can obtain ABA therapy. We specialize in autism only. We also offer concierge services for parents while they wait for insurance to approve the ABA therapy they need on a regular basis. I consider this service an interim service for families. With insurance and Medicaid decreasing reimbursement rates, companies are going to dropping those provers making it difficult for families to find services. Hopefully out concierge services will fill that gap as our goal is to educate the families on how to work with their child on the autism spectrum so that they do not NEED services.
We are very person centered. We go above and beyond to offer the best services and support for the families we serve. Look at our Goggle reviews and you will see.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I like Florida and would never move back to Missouri. I like the weather, but mostly the water and nature. There are so many things to see and do in Florida. I dislike the hurricanes and the conservative political direction of the local government.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hart4autism.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrKerriDuncan
